Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said North Korea poses "a new level of threat"following its firing Monday of a barrage of ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan — three of them into Japan's exclusive economic zone 300 km to 350 km west of Akita Prefecture. Japan needs to work together with other countries with stakes in Northeast Asia to explore new responses to the threat, as the repeated missile launches and nuclear weapons tests by Pyongyang since last year prove that international attempts so far to stop the military ambitions of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un through sanctions and condemnations have not been successful.

All the while, Kim's regime has steadily upgraded its military capabilities. Abe noted that the missiles, which were reportedly fired simultaneously, flew about 1,000 km and reached an altitude of 260 km, landed with extreme precision. Neither Japan, the United States or South Korea is said to have been able to detect advance signs of the latest firings, because North Korea likely used solid-propellant rockets and mobile launch vehicles.

Due to their range and altitude, Monday's test is not believed to involve intercontinental ballistic missiles — which North Korea claims are in the "final stage"of preparation for test-launching — but either an improved version of a short-range Scud missile or an intermediate-range Rodong missile that has much of Japan within its range of target. But the firings could still be a part of North Korea's efforts to develop an ICBM. In his New Year's Day address, Kim said his regime was on course to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting New York and Washington. Responses to North Korea's missile threat need to keep that prospect in mind.